True North
by teamfreewill82
Summary: Traveling is harder to do when you have someone you don't want to leave behind. [ONESHOT]


**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Dark Artifices**_ **or anything pertaining to this series except my own writing. I published this story on Archive of Our Own as well (as I am IzzyLightwood there), so read this wherever you like.**

 **A/N: Thanks go out to the reader who suggested I write off the newest Kitty snippet. *smiley Find it if you can.**

"So you're… really going, huh?"

Ty looked up from where he sat at his desk. He was researching spots to visit in London on Watson. He had been there before, of course, but there was always something more to see. He thought that to be true of most places. On his bed was an open travel bag, encased in a hard black plastic that resembled the shell of a darkling beetle. (So Ty thought, anyway.) He had begun packing for London only minutes after being told about the trip, on which he would be traveling with his brother Julian. He had business to attend to there, and all members of the Blackthorn family knew of Ty's love for London (because of the Holmes stories). What they didn't know was that he just really wanted to get away from Los Angeles for a little while.

"Of course," Ty said. He and Kit had a… complex relationship. It was more complicated than Ty had thought possible. Their first meeting had included Ty's holding a knife to the other boy's throat, and proceeding to take note that he wasn't–awful… in the face department, something Ty had never really taken into account with anybody else before then. And when Kit had moved in to the LA Institute to train as a Shadowhunter–only a week before–the only person Kit could really talk to was Ty, interestingly enough, because of that connection. He hadn't been close with anyone aside from Livvy for his entire life, and then suddenly he had somehow acquired another brother. Something more than that, even.

All Ty knew was that, despite never having been a fan of excessive touching, he didn't mind it with Kit.

"Yeah, it's great that you're going," Kit said. He rubbed the back of his neck, walking further into the room. He wasn't a stranger to it, not by far, but he seemed hesitant today. "Should be cool."

Ty spoke slower than normal then, in question. "I'd think so. I've been to London before."

"Yeah…"

Ty pushed his desk chair back in order to stand. On his wrist was a True North, or locating, rune. Its purpose was to track an individual that you needed to know the whereabouts of, and was usually drawn on the back of a hand. Livvy had drawn it on his arm because it wasn't going to be used. Well, not technically. It was really meant for Ty 'to find himself,' as Livvy had put it. He found it ridiculous.

"Is something wrong?" he asked Kit.

He waved a hand while shoving hair out of his eyes with the other. "No. Nothing. But you do know that you're the only one here…" His glance fell to the carpet.

"Everyone else here cares about you just as much as I do," Ty told him.

Kit looked up, his eyes sparkling and a strange look on his face. "I truly hope that's not the case."

"And anyway," Ty went on, as if Kit hadn't said anything, "it's practice. For when I go to the Scholomance, which I _will_. You'll have to deal with them without me."

"I guess. If they even let you go."

Ty scoffed. He walked away from Kit, pressing miscellaneous books into his suitcase atop his clothes. "I'll be 18. A legal adult in both the Shadow and mundane worlds. I can do what I want."

"Go wherever, do whatever."

"Precisely."

Kit was quiet for a second, then said, "What if they don't want you to go?"

"Did you miss everything I–?"

"No, I just mean–Julian or Diana could need you here," Kit said. "You help out a lot around this place, in case you didn't know."

"Of course I know."

"So then, what? You'll just leave and study for years without a call?"

"When did I say I wouldn't be keeping in contact with my family?" Ty demanded.

"It seemed implied," Kit muttered.

"It wasn't." Ty huffed out. His eyes were calm though, if alongside something Kit couldn't quite identify. "I want to go. I can greatly benefit the Shadowhunter world, and my family will just have to deal with that. They don't always know best, you know."

"Okay," Kit said, hoping to appease him. ""But I would just say that it isn't always about people knowing what's best for you, or thinking they do." He looked down briefly. He looked like a demon in black, while Ty always looked like an avenging angel in white. Kit caught himself staring at him on several occasions, and would feel an irrational sense of guilt. "Sometimes they would just miss you."

" _Livvy_ would miss me," Ty said. He did in a way that suggested anything else Kit could be suggesting, possibly that anyone else could want Ty around, was inane.

"Your whole family would miss you," Kit insisted. He looked at him. "And I would miss you."

Ty's expression changed, became softer, and he took the steps that he only ever took with Kit. He was always so surprised at how quickly Ty's moods could alter. His arms wound firmly around Ty's waist, a hand pressed to his upper back. Kit always held Ty as though Ty were too limp to keep himself on his own feet. Or maybe like Ty was what kept _him_ standing.

"I would miss you," Kit repeated. His face was buried in Ty's shoulder, and Ty cradled the back of his messy blonde head.

"I know. I'd miss you too," Ty murmured. "But this is only for a few days." He pulled back to look at Kit, grey eyes on blue. "And plus, the Scholomance is open to everyone. Even those with a Herondale lineage." Kit laughed and pushed away from Ty, fixing his shirt self-consciously. Whatever he felt didn't have to be addressed right now. For all he knew, Ty hugged everybody like that.

"Don't be an ass. Just… come back in one piece," Kit said. "I still need more training, remember?"

"You definitely do. I'll make sure to come back." Ty looked around the room. "But for now, it's the last afternoon in LA. I'm thinking movies."

"From Dru's 'special' collection?" (Kit waggled his fingers to represent horror.)

"Excellent." Whatever he felt for Kit could be dealt with when he returned from England. And for all Ty knew, Kit could just be in desperate need of a friend his age, and it wasn't as if Ty had many friendships to base this one off of anyway. "But I get to pick it."

"Anything for you, Mr. Holmes…"


End file.
